NYIFF 2026-Déjà Vu + The Last Resort (short) + This Tree Won't Fall (short)

DEJA VU

Director: Bedabrata Pain

Run time: 1 hour 3 minutes

Language: English, Hindi, Punjabi

Synopsis:

At a time when corporate power has made everyday life a veritable struggle for working people, comes the documentary “Déjà vu”. Framed against the backdrop of Indian farmers’ protests - the largest such mobilization in recent times – the movie chronicles voices that are rarely heard: small family farmers in the United States -- oft-ignored and conveniently marginalized.

Over the last four decades, these American farmers have lived through sweeping market reforms and steady corporatization of agriculture. But how did the reforms turn out? Who benefited? Who lost out? The farmers, the consumers, or the corporates?

In exploring these questions, Deja Vu offers a unique perspective. An untold American story becomes a cautionary tale for another country, and indeed for the world. And along the way, the documentary traces how corporate oligarchies came to amass such unbridled economic and political power – with devastating consequences for the society.

Déjà Vu takes the viewer on this “back to the future” ride, where past meets future – a glimpse of what the future might portend.

Director: Bedabrata Pain

A leading member of the team that invented CMOS image sensor technology that ushered in digital camera revolution - Bedabrata Pain was an award-winning senior research scientist at NASA and Caltech. He holds over 90 patents and is an inductee to the US Space Technology Hall of Fame. With his debut film Chittagong (2012), he won the Golden Lotus in the Indian National Awards as well as many international awards. Earlier, he was the executive producer of internationally acclaimed Amu (2005) and the documentary called Lifting the Veil (1997). He is currently working on several feature films and web-series in India and in Hollywood.

Dr. Pain is a technology consultant for the prime movie-camera maker RED Digital Cinema. He received his B. Tech. degree from IIT Kharagpur in 1986, and his Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University in 1992, and taught in UCLA from 1998-2008, and has received prestigious awards such as the Lew-Allen Award, NASA Inventors Award, and IIT Distinguished Alumnus Award.

The Last Resort

Director: Sarita Khurana

Run time: 13 minutes

Language: English, Hindi

Synopsis:In the first-ever Indian retirement complex in the U.S, a tight-knit group of Indian immigrants forge a resilient community, navigating family tensions, cultural longing and the realities of growing old together. Told through the lives of several residents, this is a story of the first generation of Indian immigrants growing old in America.

Director: Sarita Khurana

Sarita Khurana is an award-winning film director and cultural producer. Khurana’s feature film, A SUITABLE GIRL, world premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival documentary competition section, and won the Best New Documentary Director prize. A SUITABLE GIRL has screened worldwide at festivals including Hot Docs, Sheffield, Mumbai Film Festival, AFI Docs, and is distributed by Amazon (USA) and Netflix (worldwide). Her most recent film, THE LAST RESORT, recently won Best Documentary at ISAFF in Canada, and her short CROSSROADS, about the Fed Ex mass shooting in Indianapolis, was Emmy-nominated as part of the series, ASIAN AMERICAN STORIES OF RESILIENCE AND BEYOND (2022), coproduced by PBS/World Channel, Asian American Documentary Network, and the Center for Asian American Media. She holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.

This Tree Won't Fall

Director: Deepak Ramola

Starring: Sudesha Devi

Run time: 20 minutes

Language: Hindi

Synopsis:

This Tree Won’t Fall’ is a compelling short documentary that honors the indomitable spirit of Sudesha Devi, an 83-year-old Indian tree hugger & Climate Activist. This film captures her unwavering dedication to the iconic Chipko Andolan (Tree Hugging Movement) in the Himalayan mountains of India, where she defied conventions to safeguard trees from industrial destruction. It showcases the profound environmental wisdom of women and the catalyst they provide for grassroots activism.

Director: Deepak Ramola

Deepak Ramola, an award winning wisdom historian, filmmaker and educator, from Uttarakhand, India. His journey began with screenwriting for digital and television productions before making his mark in Hindi cinema. Deepak is a Lecturer and Life Design Fellow at Stanford University and co-teaches the "Meaning of Life" course at MIT. A graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Deepak is a TED Talks speaker and UN Action Plan Executor. He served as the Kindness Ambassador for the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. His innovative educational methodology has been recognized among the world's top 100 innovations and has been embraced across five continents.

Beyond filmmaking and education, Deepak is a celebrated Hindi lyricist, with renowned artists like Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, and Rekha Bhardwaj lending their voices to his songs. His debut collection of Hindi poetry, 'Itna Toh Main Samajh Gaya Hoon,' received the esteemed Young Writer Award in 2020. Continuing his literary success, his latest book, '50 Toughest Questions of Life,' garnered such acclaim that it went into a reprint just two weeks after its release. With an illustrious career in multiple creative spheres, Deepak Ramola continues to inspire as a new age storyteller, leaving a lasting impact on audiences worldwide.